Shining Light
by bizkitprinzess
Summary: This is a story about the wizarding worlds war and the end of it, and what happens to the two left.


Summary: War decimates. Two people who are left live on.  
  
Disclaimer: I own nothing.  
  
Author's Note: People die in war. That means characters die in war. It's not that I have anything against anybody it's just that their deaths fitted in with this story.  
  
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Ginny Weasley sighed. Though she was only young, her eyes showed age and loss beyond her short years. She pushed all thoughts out of her mind and set back to the task at hand, cleaning and clearing. The vibrant orange of the room almost mocked her. It reminded her of the eight family members she had lost violently. If she stopped to think, she might throw up. She carefully un-tacked the posters off the wall, rolling and fastening them in the process, before viciously scrubbing the walls. The furniture had already been cleaned and removed, with help. She'd been offered more help but this was her job, and it was almost over.  
  
After five years of war, the world was at peace. Well, as much at peace as it could be. People were wounded and scared, and dead. So many people were dead. Including The Weasley's, except for Ginny. Little Ginny Weasley, whose big brothers and parents, sheltered from the harsh world, wasn't so little anymore and the harsh world was her home. The fact was though; she wasn't going to be a Weasley for much longer. No matter how happy she was to be getting married, she felt bad about leaving her family's name behind. She'd considered keeping her name, but for some reason it hadn't sounded right.  
  
The house took her months to clean out. She loved her family, she missed them terribly but she couldn't live in the past. She was cleaning the house fully before the renovations started. The Ministry had given out compensation for those who had lost the most in the war, and by far Ginny had received the most. She'd lost her whole family. There were only two family's left this decimated by the war, thankfully, Ginny thought with a bitter edge. All of Ginny's compensation money had been put towards the renovations and re-decoration of the Burrow. Harry, being the last of the Potter line due to the war, had also been offered compensation but he had refused.  
  
Ginny sat in the last remaining chair in the house staring at the bare walls. She hadn't forgotten anything. The chickens had been given to a farm; they'd spend the rest of their natural lives laying eggs with other chickens. The garden gnomes had been taken care of once and for all and everything she had wanted to keep had been put into storage. All the lose ends had been tied up in time. Tomorrow morning the Burrow would start undergoing renovations that would be finished just before she returned from her honeymoon. She'd raise her family here, like her parents had.  
  
Ginny had learned not to cry. Five years of persistent setbacks and pain had brought that. It had all started after the Tri-Wizard Tournament. No one outside the walls of Hogwarts had believed Harry's story of Voldermort's resurrection. That was until Godric's Hollow had been burned symbolically, and a victim left. The village had been abandoned since James and Lily Potter's death that fateful Halloween, and the supposed defeat of Voldermort. Everyone had been frightened of the place, like it was sacred ground no one dare trespass on until July 31st, Harry's 15th birthday, when Lord Voldermort had burned all that remained of it leaving Hagrid's charred corpse on display. Harry had been removed from the Dursley's care immediately. Extra protective wards had been placed around the Burrow, thicker then anyone could even imagine- they protected everything inside there walls, and Harry had come to live inside those wards at the Burrow.  
  
Harry had been quiet then, and no matter what someone was to be with him. Everyone took turn spending time with him. Ron tried to talk to him about Quidditch and Harry would smile at him with that fake hollow smile he'd mastered. Hermione talked about schoolwork and Harry would just nod and smile letting her talk. Fred and George talked about their newest products and how they could also be used tactically if necessary and Harry would compliment them and offer any thoughts, but his comments were limited to 'Good job' or 'Maybe you could test that on Malfoy'. Percy used to talk about his reports for work, which Harry just ignored half the time. Arthur Weasley asked him questions about muggle things, which he'd answer dutifully every time in the simplest way possible. Molly Weasley showed him how to cook the magical way 'A skinny boy like Harry' she used to say 'should be able to cook. He needs some meat on his bones'. Ginny used to just sit with him, she never really talked to him then, in the beginning she just sat there. Sometimes she'd bring a book for herself and Harry, which he sometimes read and sometimes didn't. A week before Hogwarts started, Harry opened up. Ginny had felt privileged that it was her he talked to.  
  
That's how the only shining light of the entire five years of war for Ginny had started. Her and Harry had become friends, confidants, and later on lovers. No matter what happened they found each other in the hardest times. When Charlie died she ran to him, he comforted her. He held her as she cried, and did whatever he could for her. When he graduated, she made him promise to come back alive, he promised he would and asked her to marry him once the war was over and the answer was obvious. The engagement ring was worn on her right hand, as not to raise suspicions all through her seventh year- until after graduation when she joined Harry, Ron and Hermione in the war, a war in which everyone said that Harry would die. The news of the engagement was kept quiet- only the remaining Weasley's and Sirius knew. A raid on the Ministry happened shortly after Ginny had graduated, Percy had died that day.  
  
Then Hermione died. She'd been checking up on the wards over the encampment they were staying at when a deatheater attacked and killed her. Ron had been beside himself and Harry and Ginny had all they could do to keep him from running strait to the snake pit and exacting some kind of revenge, especially after rumors started to spread of Lucious Malfoy's part in Hermione's death. Ron lashed out; Ginny and Harry still had each other- what could they know about anything? Ginny had no clue really what Harry had said to Ron in the following hours locked in the make shift war room, but they had changed Ron. Ron had always been a strategist, but he became the best. Ron took out more then half of the deatheater pockets across Europe with cool-headed strategy before he died, in the same raid that killed Lucious Malfoy.  
  
While Ron had been finding and destroying deatheaters, Ginny and Harry had been looking for Voldermort himself. The war was unconventional. The bad guys had no real headquarters, everything moved on either side at a moments notice. Order's and Society's and Groups against and for war were everywhere. Harry and Ginny had always been one step ahead of everyone, with help from Dumbledore. Dumbledore knew everything that was going on but rarely left Hogwarts. He kept Harry up to date with every spell found powerful enough to do any harm to Voldermort- who kept himself well hidden. Until July 31st, Harry's 19th Birthday. The day had started out like any other, waking early and walking long distances for fear of traveling in any magical way- magic could be traced. They were on their way to Hogwarts but before they got to Hogwarts- Voldermort found them and expected to kill them both. The final battle wasn't what anyone had expected. Ginny taunted Voldermort drew his attention away from Harry and Harry killed Voldermort with great speed using a spell Dumbledore had told him about. It seemed almost impossible for it to be that easy, but it was. The war wasn't over though.  
  
Deatheaters continued killing people, including Molly and Arthur Weasley, and were so numerous in quantity that they were hard to contain. The deatheaters wanted vengeance for their master's death, and they were becoming desperate. It took months and many more lives before they were eliminated. Bill, Fred and George died in some of the final raids. Ginny being the only surviving family member, arranged for their burial. Eight tombstones in a row, and a red headed woman standing in front of them being held up by the famous Harry Potter was The Daily Prophet's favorite cover photo when any article about the decimation the war caused was run, until Harry had somehow made them stop running it.  
  
A noise from the door startled Ginny, and she was relieved to see it was Harry. He saw the look in her eyes, and walked in and hugged her tightly and for the first time in what seemed like forever she cried. Ginny was shocked when she looked up to Harry's face and saw tears in his eyes too. "I'm finished." She said quietly. He kissed her forehead tenderly.  
  
"Do you want to leave?" he asked, in a voice just as quiet as hers.  
  
"I'm not sure." She said breaking their embrace and moving to touch the wall. "There are so many memories here. It feels almost like betrayal to be changing anything." Harry walked over and took her other hand in his.  
  
"The renovations haven't started yet, and they don't have to start at all if you don't want them to." He said smiling slightly at her. She smiled back at him.  
  
"No, I think they do." Ginny said moving to take Harry's other hand. "But you have to promise me something."  
  
"Anything Gin." He answered, looking as if he would fetch her the moon if she asked for it.  
  
"We'll make new memories here." She said snuggling into his chest.  
  
"I wouldn't have it any other way." He said wrapping his arms around her once again. Like this they left, one with the image of a little black haired boy being held by his daddy and one with the image of a little red haired girl being cooed to sleep by her mommy floating through their heads. They were left and they would live on, because the others couldn't.  
The End  
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Author Note #2: This is my first Harry Potter fic, actually the first fic I've written in a while at all so don't be too harsh please. Hopefully you liked it. All reviews are welcome. 


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